I've been bench pressing 3 times a week. I just started getting a very painful sharp pinch under the front side of my right armpit. I'll be on the computer, then all of sudden out of nowhere I get the painful pinch. I was trying to research on it a bit, I think it's called the subscrapulis? How can I relieve the pain? Is there another muscle to exercise in my shoulder to offset this?
STOP BENCH PRESSING 3 TIMES A WEEK!!!!!! I have experienced the same problem. It could be due to a number of ailments to the shoulder and upper back, but in this case, I wouldn't worry about going to the doc and having him give you some vague answer (which is exactly what you will get, unless you know some exceptional sports medicine doc). Anyway, there is no reason anyone should bench press 3 times a week. Even if you are doing a heavy, light, medium system ala Starr in The Strongest Shall Survive, you are still missing the boat, because there are better ways to strengthen your upper body. You will be better off in the future bench pressing once a week and doing another pressing movement another day during the week. The average person requires five days for the chest to recover from a moderate to hard workout (see Charles Poliquins article on training frequency at tmag.com or at his website) anyway.
Sounds like a minor tear in either the backside of your pectorial muscle or the front of your latisimus dorsi, these two actually meet at the shoulder to form the cavity that is your armpit. You either were lifting too much, broke form or were going to fast, either way, a quick "pinch" pain or sting is usually a result of a small microtear in the muscle tissue. Take it easy for a week or so and I agree with the other guys here, take it easy on the bench press. Try dumbell flys with a lighter weight, they actually stress your pecs more so than a normal bench since they are isolating each specific pectorial muscle.
how does the positioning of my grip effect this? when i have a wider grip, i notice the muscle area near the front armpit area is stiffer. when i have a closer grip on the barbell, the inner part of pecs are stiffer. i bench MWF.
M i do flat bench and add 2.5 lbs.
W i do incline w/ same weight.
F i do flat bench and add 2.5.
repeat for the next week.
am i adding on weight too quickly? typically, i get about 7-8 reps 1st set, 7 reps 2nd set, 5 reps on 3rd set, 5 reps on 4th set for the flat bench. incline, about 5-6 reps, 4, 4.
gobruins- A wide grip emphasizes the pectorals more, while a closer grip puts more emphasis on the triceps, but both work almost all muscles of the upper body pretty thoroughly. Again, I must strongly caution you to change your workout and not do bench press and related exercises 3 times a week. You are only slowing your progress.
thanks for the info
definately don't need to be benching that much. i would say two quality chest workouts a week are the most you need.
I usually only do 1 a week but make it a good one and my chest feels it. If you are able to get through it three times a week then it isn't doing much in terms of expanding the muscle tissue.